


Loose the Blood Dimmed Tide

by scarlettgirl



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: AU, Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-28
Updated: 2011-01-28
Packaged: 2017-10-15 04:06:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/156890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarlettgirl/pseuds/scarlettgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor and Jack must convince the War Council to allow a controversial weapon be given to the residents of Arcadia before it's too late.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Loose the Blood Dimmed Tide

**Author's Note:**

> Set pre-series, this story is the result of an odd bunny where Jack traveled with the Eighth Doctor and his lost memories were a result of the time war.

Jack looked around the table in disgust. The air was laden with the sort of smells that haunted your dreams: thick, oily diesel smoke, the sharp tang of ozone and the cloying, stomach churning scent of burning flesh. Yet the gathered company moved above and around them, as if the physical reminders of battle were no more worth notice than a book slightly out of place in the library or a slightly overcooked pastry.

Then there was the Doctor.

He’d stand out in any company, Jack realized, but in this room he was a thorn, a weed in the garden of denial. He wore his singed frock coat with a palpable sense of defiance. The smears of dried blood, his own and others, were like some macabre badge of honor.

“You cannot be proposing that we release that sort of weaponry to the citizens of this planet. It is beyond comprehension! What you suggest, Doctor is irresponsible and dangerous and further highlights how completely inappropriate you are for this position.”

The Chief Councilor drew himself up to his full height and glared at the Doctor, carefully ignoring Jack’s presence.

“It’s bad enough that we were forced to bring this battle to Arcadia, but to involve the citizens in our fight is unacceptable.”

The Doctor laughed. Jack felt the hair on the back of his neck rising in response to the harsh sound. The hairline cracks in the Doctor’s composure that had appeared after they had found Charley seemed to widen when in the presence of his fellow Time Lords. The madness that lay tightly coiled behind the Doctor’s eyes flared and Jack prayed that this wasn’t the moment that the fragile façade finally crumbled.

“Unacceptable? You think involving the citizens is _unacceptable_? Tell me Councilor, how unacceptable is it to watch a village burn knowing that everyone inside was dead before the first lick of flames? How unacceptable is it to be forced to watch your children struck down before you by an enemy seeking a scrap of information that you couldn’t possibly comprehend?, How _unacceptable_ is it to watch everything you’ve ever known or loved be destroyed by a war that is not yours and fought by a race that never even deigned to acknowledge their existence until they needed a killing field? Wake up Councilor, the planet is burning and the flames are being fanned by our own hubris. This is now just as much their war as ours and they deserve the right to defend their home, as futile an effort as that may be.”

“But the technology is beyond their time, their civilization. At the very least it could change the course of history; at the worst they could end up killing us all.”

The Doctor leaned back and smiled. The temperature in the room fell as one by one the members of Council dropped their eyes under the weight of the Doctor's cold visage.

“Oh, you really don’t understand, do you? We’re already dead, Councilor. We just haven’t accepted it yet.”

He gave Jack a quick glance and at that moment he knew that the Doctor was going through with the plan with or without the consent of the Council. He tensed slightly and slowly slid the safety setting on his blaster into the off position. The Doctor had said his people were more apt to kill you with words and protocol but, if it came down to it, he preferred to rely on more direct methods of defense.

“While you and the other members of Council debate on the _acceptability_ of giving the Arcadians the means by which to defend themselves, Captain Harkness and I will be retrofitting the specs of the scanner so that it will be effective against this new threat.”

With that, he stood and walked from the room without a glance, leaving Jack to follow. Once outside the doors, Jack let out a breath he didn’t even realize he’d been holding.

“We’re really going to do this, aren’t we?”

The Doctor paused mid-stride and turned towards Jack.

“Do we really have any choice?”

He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.

“Despite…”

The Doctor took a deep breath and Jack could feel him struggling to suppress the rage he would not let himself express.

“Despite everything that has occurred,” he said with only bare hint of tremble in his voice, “this planet didn’t deserve the horrible legacy that we’ve bestowed upon it. We have to do what we can and I’m afraid that this is the only solution left.”

Jack walked over to the wall and leaned next to the Doctor, their shoulders grazing.

“It’s going to make a hell of a mess, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“If it works, it’s really going to piss off the Council, isn’t it?”

“Oh, most definitely.”

Jack turned to the Doctor and grinned.

“Well, what are we waiting for?”

**Author's Note:**

> Originally published 2/15/07


End file.
